Jack Loughran Wed 24 Dec 2025
Collected at: https://eandt.theiet.org/2025/12/23/year-review-2025s-biggest-technology-and-engineering-stories
As the year draws to a close, we at E+T magazine have been looking back at some of the most important trends in engineering and technology over the past year.
AI
As with 2024, AI dominated the news cycle in 2025 and takes the top spot on this list as the sector with the broadest-ranging impact. Big Tech firms have doubled down on AI investment and adoption this year, but there have been some noticeable shifts in the market. While it took a while to find its feet, Google’s Gemini chatbot had begun to overtake OpenAI’s ChatGPT in some metrics. Meanwhile, Apple’s attempt to integrate AI across its range of products was considered a flop and consumers offered a collective shrug at their efforts. Inevitably, AI will lead this list again next year, but the utility of the technology needs to be proven in a major way to quell growing uncertainty from investors.
AI and automation could endanger up to three million low-skilled UK jobs by 2035
Google unveils Gemini 3, billed as its ‘most intelligent’ AI model
OpenAI reveals data on ChatGPT users showing signs of crisis or suicidal intent
Amazon to build US nuclear reactor facility to power AI and data centre growth
UK and US strike deal on AI, fusion and nuclear energy as Trump begins state visit
Some AI queries emit 50 times more CO₂ than others, study finds
Low-cost Chinese AI model DeepSeek-R1 triggers shockwaves in stock market
Electric vehicles
2025 was a big year for EVs, with over a quarter of all new cars sold containing an electrically powered engine. Emerging markets are also increasing adopting EVs as falling prices improve their affordability. But with Donald Trump removing a major tax credit for consumers, and the UK introducing a pay-per-mile levy for EVs from 2027, it’s unclear whether Western markets will be prepared for the rising cost of ownership. Meanwhile, market leader Tesla had a terrible year, with sales down nearly 9% overall – a reversal of broader market trends.
Does the Autumn Budget’s pay-per-mile tax levy risk slowing EV adoption?
Nissan begins production of third-generation LEAF EV at Sunderland plant
Electric cars made up more than a quarter of new car sales in 2025, report finds
US demonstrates first in-road charging at speed for heavy electric vehicles
News analysis: The numbers behind Musk’s $1 trillion payday don’t add up
Nissan tests extendable solar roof to cut EVs’ reliance on plug-in charging
Transport
A raft of companies unveiled new prototype electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles this year, suggesting a 1960s, Jetsons-style future filled with flying cars could be closer than we think. Elsewhere, the nascent market for supersonic passenger craft could finally see consumers travelling at top speeds for the first time since Concorde. But tickets will probably remain too expensive for everyone but the mega-rich. Melting sea ice has also opened a faster China-Europe shipping route across the Arctic, an unexpected benefit of climate change that otherwise threatens to wreak havoc across the globe.
Hybrid eVTOL makes ‘world first’ fan-in-wing mid-air transition from vertical to winged flight
Conservatives pledge to scrap 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars
The world’s fastest private jet since Concorde enters service
Virgin gets green light to introduce trains on Channel Tunnel route for the first time
Melting sea ice opens China-Europe shipping shortcut
Hardt Hyperloop sets speed record and proves lane-switching at European test site
Airport expansion plans risk undermining UK climate targets without boosting economy
Infrastructure and energy
In the UK, the Labour government has made strides towards its promise to decarbonise the energy system by 2030. This includes speeding up the grid connection queue for renewables and providing firm backing for the Sizewell C nuclear plant. However, with only three years left, meeting the target on time looks increasingly unlikely considering the necessity of nuclear energy as a baseload and the lengthy development times for those projects. Meanwhile, electrification of industry and rampant energy demands from AI data centres across the world will strain the capacity of national grids without a rapid build-out of new infrastructure.
Britain kills off ‘zombie’ energy projects blocking renewables from grid connection
Growing data-centre power demands are delaying new homes across London
Decommissioning spend to exceed drilling investment in North Sea by 2028
Landmark UK fusion experiment uses 3D coils to tame unstable plasma
Urgent action needed to move critical services off ‘unreliable’ analogue networks, BT warns
Geological disposal facility for nuclear waste deemed unviable by the Treasury
Government strikes deal with private investors to fund £38bn Sizewell C nuclear plant
Space
The private space sector is going from strength to strength, with SpaceX preparing for a potential IPO in 2026 and Blue Origin finally getting some wind in its sails. But swingeing cuts to Nasa’s budget by the Trump administration risks leaving scientific endeavours on the cutting room floor in favour of boosting the profits of private enterprise. The UK has also been warned that the domestic sector risks falling behind international rivals unless public funding is increased from a decidedly limited taxpayer pot. Boeing’s Starliner is set to make a cautious return to space next year after its disastrous delivery of astronauts to the International Space Station in 2024 that left them stranded aboard for nine months – significantly longer than the planned 10-day mission.
US start-up plans 2027 launch for space-based AI data centres
Boeing’s Starliner to return in 2026 for cargo-only mission
Blue Origin launches Mars-bound mission and successfully lands fully reusable booster
Lords warn that weak investment could ground UK’s £16bn space sector
Arc spacecraft enables mission-critical deliveries anywhere on Earth in under an hour
Astronauts stranded on the ISS for nine months are finally set to return
Trump orders a manned Moon landing for 2028 despite Artemis setbacks
Gadgets and chipmaking
While many assumed the Covid-induced chip shortage would be a thing of the past after supplies returned to normal throughout 2023, protectionist policies from the US and China have led the latter to heavily restrict the export of rare earth minerals – a sector it dominates. The rampant consumption of RAM chips by AI data centres has also seen prices jumping by up to 200% in the final few months of 2025. This has led to warnings that next year’s crop of smartphones and laptops could be drastically more expensive or have downgraded performance compared with current generation models.
China issues fresh clampdown on rare earth exports in a threat to global tech supply chains
Apple commits $100bn to American chipmaking to shield against import tariffs
Major smart TV brands spying on viewers, Texas state lawsuit alleges
News analysis: The US gamble on semiconductors needs a rethink
China’s GPMI cable could replace HDMI and USB with faster data and higher power
Next month’s 3G switch-off will create torrent of UK e-waste, study finds
Vodafone makes first space-based 5G video call using a regular smartphone
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